Shenandoah : Roc Stop, Iowa Corn Growers hold pump promotion for higher ethanol blended fuels
Shenandoah’s Roc Stop promoted E15 fuel with an eight-cent discount, highlighting ethanol’s benefits for consumers and farmers. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s Monte Shaw emphasized E15’s potential to boost corn demand. Owner Ryan O’Rourke revamped infrastructure to offer Unleaded 88. Efforts continue to secure nationwide year-round E15 sales, supported by USDA’s $537M Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentives program.
Shenandoah : Fuels with higher ethanol blends were on full display at Roc Stop in Shenandoah on Tuesday.
In partnership with the Fremont-Page County Corn Grower Associations, the Shenandoah gas station held a pump promotion offering an eight-cent per gallon discount on Unleaded 88 containing 15% ethanol, more commonly known as E15. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw was among those on hand as a “celebrity pumper.” Shaw, who is also a Shenandoah native, tells KMA News that fuels containing higher blends of ethanol are a win-win for consumers and producers and provides a discount year-round compared to more traditional fuels.
“It’s got a little more octane which is good for your car engine, it has a little more ethanol which helps the farmers out, but it saves you a lot of money as well–so we’re excited to be down here and help celebrate the grand opening,” said Shaw. “This is one of the first places in Shenandoah where you can get the higher blends of ethanol, so obviously as I’ve been working on that for the last 25 years, I’m glad I can come home now and find a place.”
While most gas stations carry fuels with 10% ethanol, Shaw says E15 has remained relatively untapped outside of the eight Midwestern states that recently had year-round sales of the product approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, including Iowa. Thus, he says it’s a market that can be utilized for corn producers that are becoming more efficient.
“They keep doing more corn on fewer acres with few inputs, which is an amazing success story, but we have to have a place to use that,” Shaw emphasized. “The number one untapped market for agriculture in America right now today is those higher blends, like the 15% blend of Unleaded 88. So, if we can make E15 the new normal like E10 is today, you’re talking to two to two-and-a-half billion bushels of corn grind, which would be phenomenal to get these (commodity) prices up.”
Ryan O’Rourke owns and manages Roc Stop, located at the corner of West Sheridan Avenue and U.S. Highway 59. O’Rourke says offering gasoline with higher blends of ethanol was a major reason for their renovation and construction effort that wrapped up late last year.
“As we add the higher ethanol blends, such as Unleaded 88, you have to make some changes to the infrastructure and dispensers, so that’s a lot of the reason we did the new construction,” O’Rourke explained. “Really, we started with all new tanks, piping, and went all the way to the dispensers. So, it was a pretty big project, but now we can offer Unleaded 88.”
Ralph Lents is the president of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. Lents says the statewide organization is continuing to work with federal lawmakers on making year-round E15 sales available nationwide.
“Congress and the federal government are ‘working on it,’ and we’ve had promises before that it might happen or will get put in a bill,” said Lents. “But, it looks a lot more promising now than it has anytime in the last 15 years. So, we’re hoping that happens and it’ll help the farm economy tremendously. We’ve got a few more hurdles to cross if that does pass, but at least it’s a start in the right direction.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also announced $537 million for its Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentives program–funding over 540 projects in 29 states. The Roc Stop discount on Unleaded 88 ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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Source : KMA Land
